1, geographical location
Japan is located in the east of Eurasia and the west of the Pacific Ocean. It consists of thousands of islands, all of which are arc-shaped. The eastern and southern parts of Japan are the endless Pacific Ocean, bordering the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea in the west, the Sea of Okhotsk in the north, and facing North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, the Philippines and other countries across the sea.
2. Natural environment
Japan is mountainous, and the mountains are distributed in the central part of Japan in a ridge shape, which divides Japan's territory into one side of the Pacific Ocean and one side of the Sea of Japan, and the mountains and hills account for 765,438+0% of the total area. In addition, Mount Fuji is the highest peak in Japan, with an altitude of 3,776 meters.
The plains in Japan are mainly distributed in the downstream coastal areas of rivers, mostly alluvial plains, with a small scale. The larger plains include Kanto Plain, Shikai Plain, Yuehou Plain, Houwei Plain and Shi Sheng Plain.
Japan is located in the Pacific volcanic earthquake zone, with frequent volcanic activities, which has brought great troubles to the lives of local people. There are more than 200 volcanoes in China, of which more than 50 are active volcanoes, which is a famous earthquake area in the world, so there is the saying that there is a country of volcanic earthquakes. In the volcanic distribution area, with beautiful scenery and rich hot spring resources, it has become a famous tourist attraction.
Rivers, plains and lakes
Japan has short rivers and abundant water resources, and the longest Shinano River is about 367 kilometers long. The largest lake is Lake Biwa, with an area of 672.8 square kilometers.
Most rivers in Japan originate in the central mountainous areas and flow eastward and westward into the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan. Because Japan is long and narrow from east to west, the mountains are steep and the rivers are short and urgent. In rainy season and typhoon season, the amount of water increases, which is easy to form floods. To this end, Japan has built a large number of flood control dams and reservoirs. River water is widely used for domestic water, agricultural and industrial water and hydropower generation.
Coastline and ocean
Japan's coastline is 33,889 kilometers long. As Japan is an island country, its coastline is very complicated. There are many cliffs in the Sea of Japan in the west, few ports, and many estuaries in the Pacific Ocean in the east, forming many natural ports.
In the East Pacific Ocean, it is surrounded by the Japanese warm current (Kuroshio) from south to north, and the Kuroshio cold current (pro-tide) forms in the northeast. In the West Sea of Japan, there are warm currents and Riemann cold currents flowing to Malaysia. At the intersection of cold current and warm current, there are abundant fish resources and become natural fishing grounds. Because it is surrounded by the sea, it has a temperate maritime monsoon climate, which is mild and humid all year round, with no severe cold in winter and no heat in summer. There are many typhoons in summer and autumn, and it rains in June. 1 Monthly average temperature is -6℃ in the north and16℃ in the south; In July, it was 17℃ in the north and 28℃ in the south. The annual precipitation is 700-3500mm, and the maximum is over 4000mm. In recent years, El Nino, which has caused the sea water to warm, has also had an impact on Japan, mainly because the duration of plum rains is prolonged, and it is easy to form Leng Xia and warm winter.
Geomorphologic geology
From the point of view of plate tectonics, Japan is located at the extinction boundary of Asia-Europe plate and Pacific plate, and it is a part of the combination of island arc, coastal mountains and trenches in the western Pacific. 68% of this country is mountainous. The highest mountain in Japan is the famous Mount Fuji, with an altitude of 3776 meters. Because there are few plains, crops are planted on many mountains in Japan, and the largest plain is Kanto Plain. Japan is located in the volcanic seismic belt around the Pacific Ocean. One tenth of the world's volcanoes are located in Japan, and volcanic activities often occur all over the country. There will be several major earthquakes every century; The Hanshin earthquake and the Sino-Vietnamese earthquake in Niigata Prefecture in recent years are both strong earthquakes with magnitude above 6 on the Richter scale, which have attracted the attention of all countries in the world. There are many hot springs in Japan, which have developed into tourist attractions.
Because Japan's islands extend to the northeast for a long time, and the north and south span about 20 degrees latitude, there are many climate types. Most of the climate types are temperate monsoon climate, while Kyushu Island, Shikoku and Ryukyu Islands in the south are subtropical monsoon climate. The northern islands are warm in summer, long and cold in winter, and often have a lot of snowfall. In the central and western regions, it is dry in winter, seldom snows, and humid in summer. Japanese climate
Japan spans 25 degrees latitude, and the temperature difference between north and south is very significant. The plateaus of Hokkaido and Honshu belong to the sub-frigid zone, the native land belongs to the temperate zone, and the southern islands such as Okinawa belong to the subtropical zone. In addition, Japan's geographical position makes it influenced by the intersection of monsoon and ocean current, so it has four distinct seasons and abundant precipitation.
Japan can be divided into six climatic zones, namely:
The climate of Hokkaido
Hokkaido is not affected by plum rains, and the rainfall is less than that in other parts of Japan. Summer is short and cool; Winter is long and cold.
Japan's coastal climate
It covers the western coastal area of Honshu Island. Winter is controlled by Siberian high, and the northwest wind blows. At the same time, because the warm current in winter brings a lot of water vapor to the horse current passing through the Sea of Japan, it often snows heavily. There is less precipitation in summer, and sometimes there is abnormal high temperature due to foehn.
Central plateau climate
Typical inland climate. It is cold in winter and cool in summer. There is a great temperature difference between winter and summer and day and night. Low rainfall
Pacific coastal climate
Including the east coast of Honshu, Shikoku and most parts of Kyushu. Influenced by the southeast monsoon in summer, there are many strong typhoons in Meiyu period. In winter, there is less snowfall.
Seto inland sea climate
Including parts of Yang Shan, Shikoku, Feng Jingen and Kyushu. The weather here is often sunny, with little rainfall and suffering from drought from time to time.
Climate of Nanxi Islands
The scope is Ryukyu Islands. It belongs to subtropical climate, with hot summer and warm winter. Rainstorm. Typhoons often strike in summer.
The precipitation in Japan is the highest in the world. The main reasons include winter snowfall in Japan's coastal areas; Continuous plum rains in June-July (May-June in Okinawa and Amami); And typhoons that landed in or near Japan from summer to autumn. The highest recorded temperature in Japan is 40.9 degrees, which was measured on August 16, 2007 in Kumagaya City, saitama and Tojima City, Gifu Prefecture. The lowest recorded temperature is -4 1 degree, which was 10+degree measured in Asahikawa, Hokkaido on October 25th.
cultural context
Generally, westerners think that the only food in Japan is beef chafing dish or odd-looking sushi. In recent years, many tourists in Japan also know how to taste fresh fish and sauteed shrimp. The main course in Japan is fish. "Sashimi" is a unique delicacy in Japan, and raw food is also a very healthy way to eat, which can reduce the loss of nutrients in fish more than cooking. The methods of Japanese cooking fish are mostly low-temperature cooking and steaming.
eating habits
Japanese cold noodles are placed on bamboo boards, picked up with chopsticks and eaten in cold soup. Some restaurants don't have spoons, so Japanese people are used to picking them up and drinking soup.
night life
Japanese people are used to drinking in groups after work. In the entertainment center of metropolis, there are taxi bars and high-end nightclubs everywhere.
Japanese drinks
Beer: Japanese people like to drink beer best, whether it is draft beer or bottled beer. In summer, some department stores have outdoor beer halls, which attract a large number of tourists.
Sake: Sake can be drunk hot or cold. No matter what kind of sake is the best match for Japanese cuisine. Wine tastes fragrant and sweet, and it is easy to get drunk if you drink too much.
Whiskey: Japanese people like to drink whisky with ice and water (Mizuwari).
Table wine: The western restaurant has Japanese-made and imported table wine. China restaurants also serve Shaoxing wine.
Soju: This wine is made of sweet potato, barley, sucrose and other raw materials. The filtered alcohol is a bit like vodka.
Drinking etiquette
Ordinary Japanese pubs have an easy-going and relaxed atmosphere, and customers in the same trade will pour beer to each other. If a group of people go to drink, they can't drink the first cup until everyone raises their glasses and says "cheers"
[Edit this paragraph] Japanese economy
Japan has a highly developed economy and a high standard of living. It is one of the richest, most developed and highest living standards countries in the world. In terms of GDP, in 2008, according to the international exchange rate, Japan's GDP was 4.844 trillion US dollars, ranking second in the world, accounting for 8. 1% of the world's GDP. Per capita GDP is $34,326, ranking 19 in the world. If calculated by purchasing power parity, GDP ranks third in the world (after the United States and China), and per capita GDP ranks 16 in the world. In addition, Japan is the second largest creditor country in the world.
The government supports industries and enterprises with funds, a strong labor force, high-tech development and a low military budget ratio (1% of GDP), which helps Japan's economy develop at a high speed and become a scientific and technological power and the second largest economic system in the world after the United States. Japan's economy is characterized by close integration of manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, strong enterprise alliances and close teamwork, seniority system and lifelong employment system. Recently, Japanese companies began to give up these systems in part in order to seek more profits.
Japan's service industry, especially banking, finance, shipping, insurance and business services, accounts for the largest proportion of GDP and is in a leading position in the world. Tokyo, the capital, is not only the largest city and economic center in China, but also one of the best financial, shipping and service centers in the world. Since World War II, Japan's manufacturing industry has developed rapidly, especially the electronics industry and automobile manufacturing industry. Japan's Mitsubishi is the world's super-enterprise chaebol, second only to America's GM. In 2007, there were only 1 1 of Mitsubishi's Fortune 500 companies. Japan's famous electronics industry and high-tech manufacturers include Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Sharp, Toshiba and Hitachi. In the automobile industry, Japanese companies have surpassed the United States and Germany in automobile production and become the largest automobile producer in the world. Among them, Toyota, Mazda, Honda and Nissan all produce cars for the global market. Japan has the largest bank in the world-Postal Savings Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which play an important role in the world financial community.
From11960 s to11980 s, the Japanese economy maintained high growth for more than 20 years, which was regarded as a miracle: in11960 s, Ikeda Hayato's cabinet put forward the "income multiplication plan", and the economy showed an average growth of 10%; In the early days of 1970, despite the oil crisis, it increased by 5% on average. 1980s, with an average growth rate of 4%. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Japan's economy tended to be in a downturn, mainly due to the asset expansion caused by excessive investment in the 1960s and the "bubble" in the securities and real estate markets. Finally, the bubble economy collapsed due to the high surplus rate and the continuous appreciation of the yen. The government's efforts to reform the economy did not achieve immediate results. Since February 2002, Japan's prosperity has been expanding, setting a record for the longest post-war recovery period, and many enterprises have created the best performance in history. After 2007, as the world economy entered a recession cycle, Japan's economy was in a difficult situation. By September 2008, when the economic crisis came, Japan's economy also fell into negative growth for two consecutive quarters. This data means that the Japanese economy has officially entered a recession.
[Edit this paragraph] Traffic
Road traffic in Japan is very developed, with more than 100 expressways running on the roads every day. Road construction in Japan is mature, but traffic jams will still occur in extremely prosperous cities. Japan's Ministry of Communications is working hard to improve this situation.
Japan's land and water transportation is also very developed, with nearly 20 ports and hundreds of routes.
Air traffic in Japan is perfect. Haneda Airport and Narita Airport in the capital are the air arteries of Japan. In the world airport service quality ranking in 2008, Tokyo Haneda Airport ranked first, which was the most punctual airport in the world at that time, and the flight delay rate remained below 5%. Hakodate, Fukuoka, Osaka, Kansai, Kitakyushu and Naha Airport are all air transportation hubs in Japan. Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Hokkaido International Airlines and SKY (Japan Oceanwide JTA Company is a subsidiary of Japan Airlines) are important symbols of air traffic in Japan.
Railway traffic
Japan's land transportation mostly depends on subway, light rail, railway and other rail transportation. Shinkansen is Japan's high-speed railway passenger dedicated line system, which is known as "bullet train". The modern symbol of urban rail transit, Japan's rail transit is the most punctual transportation system in the world. The punctuality rate is close to 100%.
[Edit this paragraph] Education system
Japanese school education is divided into four stages: preschool education, primary education, secondary education and higher education. The academic system is 6 years in primary school, 3 years in junior high school, 3 years in senior high school, 4 years in university and 9 years in junior high school. The expenditure on education in 2002 was 6,579.8 billion yen, accounting for 8. 1% of the total budget. Universities include national universities, public universities and private universities. Famous national comprehensive universities include Tokyo University, Kyoto University and tokyo institute of technology, and famous private universities include Waseda University, Keio University and Japanese University.